China can't stop the madness

Today at work someone asked me if I could know a random statistic from my life, what would it be? I of course wanted to know how many cups of coffee I've had, and how much I've spent on coffee in total. Rent, I remember, says something similar: "How do you measure a life? ...In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee..."

Somewhat related is the fact that I've been out every night from Tuesday through Saturday - a personal record for me. But not all of it is happy - friends leaving Beijing and having goodbye get-togethers.

I've also had a brief brush with the Beijing police on Friday night - which was considerably more than I've ever interacted with them anywhere else. For some reason we decided that it'd be a great idea to bike into the construction site of the new CCTV tower - possibly the most sensitive construction site after the Olympic stadiums - and, you know, check it out. So the security gate was up, the guards were just lounging, and we zoomed straight in. Nevermind the guys shouting at us or the security guard who gave chase on his own bike - we were pretending, I guess, not to understand or speak Chinese. But unfortunately, the road dead-ended, so we stood around and stared at all the night construction until the fuming security guard caught up and escorted us out. It might have been over then, but as it turns out, the security guard was extremely upset (he was definitely justified), called the police and proceeded to guard us. Keep in mind that we were all somewhat tipsy at the moment, having just come from drinking cold foaming beer. And the cops arrive!

But as it turned out, I didn't get to go to the police station, becasue as my friend rather chivalrously assured the cops, there was no need for me to go. So I'm sorry to have missed the "after party", you know, the part where they question you and threaten to take your money or keep you overnight, but end up just letting you go.

And the best donuts in Beijing are in Shunyi!

it's unbelievable, but...

There's free internet in the Hong Kong MTR stations.  And everything is shiny, and new, and dazzling. But everything is also so expensive! I did get a free ticket on the Airport Express though (by virtue, apparently, of telling the British man behind me that the ATM wasn't working.) I also got a job offer on the airplane, even before I revealed where I went to colege. Hmmmm. Perhaps this Hong Kong trip will be longer than expected :)

5 weeks & counting: books, more books, Vietnamese deliciousness, hong kong,

...that I've been at my new job. Has it been so long already? I can't remember who links here and how, so I don't want to say too much: if you want details, you must email. But it's true, I'm back in book publishing, specifically English books on Beijing, China, Chinese culture, & the like.

It's not Let's Go and never will be, which is not to say that one is better or worse. They're completely different in method and methodology, and if anything, this is even more relaxed than what you might expect from an office of college students.

In other news, it seems that I will be abroad for yet another Harry Potter release (by abroad I mean in a non-English-speaking country). Let's cross our fingers that the Chinese bookstores ordered enough copies to survive the expat-onslaught - I now regret not pre-ordering, even though this time I was vaguely determined not to get into the anticipation. Ever since Book 5 (Phoenix), I've become more ambivalent, though that didn't keep me from running around Munich trying to grab a copy of Half-Blood Prince the day of my flight to China. More than that, I dislike endings, I don't want closure: I prefer to think that the story goes on somewhere, that the adventures continue, that somewhere someone is telling the tale.

That said, there's plenty of books I love more, and recent reads too. Good Omens is one of them, the perfect blend of humor and speculation and a brilliant dash of the unexpected and the whimsical. It'll turn on your head all your expectations about good & evil, demons & angels—who knew that they could work so well together—and of course, the end of the world. It also has a self-fulfilling prophecy in the foreword: your copy of Good Omens will invariably get damaged in some way, possibly in the Vietnamese ocean.

(Speaking of which, I had real Vietnamese coffee today, at the Vietnamese restaurant at Wanda Plaza. Definitely the best pho I've had in Beijing so far, though the broth could have used more flavor & depth: fortunately there were chilis and sweet chili sauce to add some zing. Crowning moment definitely the rich, aromatic, real Vietnamese coffee, served in individual drip filters and poured over a tall glass of ice cubes. Nothing compares.)

I'm heading off to Hong Kong in 2 days, where I will replenish my stock of English reading material as well as Lush soaps. Yes, this trip is definitely becoming pricey, with all my planned purchases, and then just think of all the unplanned ones!